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LOVE IpNNETS 




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FLORENCE BROOKES 




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COPYRIGHT DEPOSnV 



RXXIII LOVE SONNETS 



FLORENCE BROOKS 



JOHN MARONE 

NEW YORK 

1908 



Two C ■ les Received | 

APH 2 1908 

'9d 3 ^^^ 



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Copyright J908 by John Maronc 



The author desires to thank the Editors of The Century and 
Scribner's Magazines, the Bookman and the Smart Set for theii 
courtesy in granting permission to reprint in this little volume 
many of the following sonnets. 



DEDICATION 



^ - HY love shall plant the laurel on thy tomb, 
§~^^ ^ ^06*5 dead and young 

m,^^ Whom men have never sung 

Asleep beneath the green and glossy gloom 
Where in the Maytime lovely blooms are hung 
Above to tell thy doom. 

Those who have scoffed shall see thy symbols there 

Pale images of thee 

Too soon set free, 
Too soon to wither, boy that wert so fair, 
Rise now filled with life's pulse of harmony 

Earth-rooted, heaven-rare. 

Even those whom thou hast hurt shall make a vow 

Ah, long, long after this, 

And hunger for thy kiss 
All those who would not praise, and praise thee now 
Sighing for still lips shut away from bliss 

And bless thy dead young brow. 

Thy tenderness the world hath dared destroy 

Who wert to gods akin. 

Too wise to call life sin 
Before thy soul grew fixed, fated boy, 
By mingling poisoned fires to drop within 

Thy soul's pure cup of joy. 

Thou knowest a home on some eternal star 

Afar at thy still goal 

Where thy free soul 
That cruel life made sick and sought to mar, 
Dost see men's agony in vain from far 

Where great suns roll. 



XXXIII LOVE SONNETS 



XXXIII LOVE SONNETS 



I SOUGHT the symlsol in the unsounded s'dcs 
Where purple drowses in the sunnier hour, 
Or the dark Etcrrn impen.trable doth lower 
With silent intent and unult'red si^'hs. 
I<l|^08 I soujht alone to ilnd ths vase 
Soul of the universe in star and -lower 
Over far wastes or in the brooding bower, 
And I was weary till I saw your eyes. 

0, I behold the calm of ancient dawn 
Patient and pale, I tremble at the storm 
Of latent fear and love, feverish and wan ! 
life and the soul of life in recreate form . 
I feel, and know the axis of the spheres 
Is love, more wondrous than the solemn years. 



11 



11 



I DREAMED, Beloved, thou wert come too late 
To some rare garden Ijing in the sun 
Autumnal and aloof. Thou wert alone 
Musing, and when thou sawest the purple state 
In paling golden mist beyond the gate, 
There wouldst thou enter, for the airs were grown 
Bitter and grey save where the lone sun shone 
And wanton glory v/ould delude its fate. 

Therein were yearning tears fallen on the mire 
Of spring ; in June the opening of love's rose ; 
Therein the wine of summer stored; the fire 
Of great wise season's passion and repose; 
And, Love, I dreamed within the garden close 
In autumn, tl:Du didst find thy dear desire, 



12 



in 



^^1 ^ GUU) that my words were an idyllic rune 
^lyf f Whicpering cf the '^^hinis of wind and sea 
^^V^ To follow on our days bright pageantry 

And fuse mysterious ni^ht wilh noon and noon, 
'Where our bare souls might float as in a sv/oon 
Through f uctuant waters' murmurous ecstasy, 
Singing in tremulous atmosphere to me 
Cur moods as changeful as the v/ave and moon. 

My words shall be the grasses where you tread 
A tender shepherd sighing, and my breath 
As reverent as the darkcome laurel wreath 
Ily hand would bind about your sacred head. 

some rare symbol from a subtle tongue 
Must linger in the beauty I have sung ! 



13 



IV 



I SAID to Duty: ^'Thou shalt never feed 
Upon the delicate fabric of my soul. 
Gracious the tender blossom shall unroll, 
Thou shalt not vex the sweet flower and its seed!" 
I said to Passion: "Never for thy need 
Shall my strong spirit weaken, neither dole 
Nor all the fires of Hell shall hurt my soul. 
Thine ardor shall consume nor thought, nor deed !" 

I walked apart in pastures soft and pure 

For Duty whispered: 'Tassion is a Sin!" 

The path was narrow, all the woods a lure. 

And Passion answered: "Where I strive I win!" 

I said "Farewell" and where the summits shone 
I wandered free, and stood, Love, alone! 



14 



I AM a pilgrim of the withered staff 
Wandering the world, and thou my godlike love; 
Thou art the dizzy universe above 
Lly gaze illuminate; and fruit or chaff 
Are nau^-ht, but pour me tears of rain to quaff, 
Send sunny winds to please, make oceans move 
For my great wonder, my poet love, 
' And I will care not if I weep or laugh. 

||| To thy sweet moods I would be like a flower 
I Soft in the flowing wind, or like a pool 
I Beneath the purple rain; from hour to hour 
Thou swayest, I am thine, priestsss or fool. 

I care not if my life be song* or sob 
1|'Sp in the night I hear thy strong heart throb, 



15 



VI 



OLST some exquisite vintage have a place 
In the rich-fashioned vessel of thy heart 
Golden and wondrous in its outward part. 
Invaluable art thou; let no base 
Nor bitter drink, dear One, corrode the vase, 
Nor poison mark by its devouring smart 
The beauty wrought with all a lover's art 
To correspond to thy rare spirit's grace. 

Dost thou deem me a flower when thou foldest 
Me, droopin'^, as it were, on the cup's brim 
Drinking thy tears ? Am I the wine thou holdest 
For thy sweet drunkenness within the rim? 

Let fall the feeble flower, pour out the wine, 
Thou art a chalice for the most divine ! 



16 



vn 

OLET us wander, lover, in the dark 
Under the uncomprehending bough. 
Thine eyes I know not, strange to me thy brow, 
But through us flashes the incarnate spark 
Thrilling the night whose silence bids us hark 
In the thick gloom, and time is nothing now, 
I am not I, thou art no longer thou, 
Life on our wayward souls has set no mark. 

I know not if we loved for joy or pain 
In pale old ages when the yellow flowers 
Flaunted in tardy sunshine, or the rain 
Flowing and pallid, wept through purple hours. 

But I know I am all in all to thee, 
Thou that I love, Thou that lovest me ! 



\7 



vm 



^ ■1 ^ ET not the storms of living shrivel thee 
■ / Like a bent bush that stubbornly doth stand 
_ff ^^ With naked roots, determined in the sand, 

Subject to the great lawless, furious sea. 
rather shalt thou grow like a strong tree 
Sweet-scented at the heart! Thou shalt expand 
V/hen summer comes to bless thy fruitful land 
Whose life in thy strong fibres may flow free. 

Let me grow near thee like the meadow grass 
About the tree "where the blue shadows creep 
In windy moods that wave and kiss and pass 
During fresh dawns or when the twilights sleep. 

Thy sap doth thrill the substance of the soil, 
Thy roots and mine unite coil upon coil 



18 



IX 



EAST thou not felt the tremblings air that clung^ 
About thy throat when kisses were too faint 
To hold thy volatile soul by touch or taint 
Of earth ? With thine my pulsings soul hath swung 
V/here lovely thin inviolate spaces flung 
Fine essences intangible, acquaint 
With rhythmic dreams of lover or of saint 
In vast blue visions from our rapture sprung. 

From me to thee the spirit thou shalt mould, 
From thee to me the life that I may round, 
Thy seed hath been mine heritage from of old. 
And of thy dream I am the scent and sound. 

Out of the death of ages art thou mine, 
Behold, the unbudded seasons make me thine! 



19 



O NIGHT hath never tired of thee and me, 
Dear fiower that dieth wanly in the dawn, 
E-enewed within thy look the moon were drawn 
And pals, and even the twilight rose, like thee 
Hath known the fiush and fear and ecstasy 
Of passing life and death and groweth wan — 
Dear rose new sunrises shall breathe upon — 
For death and love embrace eternally. 

The grave av/aiteth all thy lavishment 
Thou vestured bridegroom of the naked flower 
Glowing and paling in the ravishment 
Of the dim night at the mysterious hour. 

But, though the soul shall fade from mortal birth 
let us love forgetful of this earth ! 




XI 



ELOVED, if thou vowest thou wilt pine 
For menioiy of me who have long been thine, 
I answer thou wiit gTieve but for a year 
Bereft of our communion bread and wine. 

For even deccth hath nothing that I fear 

Like this forecart of thy forgetting, dear, 

The tenant soul shut in me as a shrine 

Adores the sweet place of our sacred cheer. 

0, beauty thou deservest like the pearl 

To purify thy heart of such as nie, 

Thou shalt love all the lovely flowers that be 

Abloom again, incarnate in some girl. 

And she shall teach thee slowly, kiss by kiss, 
The wondrous sorrow of our buried bliss. 



21 



xn 



IN the dear waning night I was impelled 
To bid my lover look upon my face 
That the uncaring dawn of absolute space, 
Uncovering the mask of love we held 
Moulded from dreams that love and midnight weld 
Of soul and shadow over every place 
Where lovers love and shadow grants a grace, 
Should blot out all the beauty he beheld. 

Her veils of her hair like to a twilight cloud, 
Her Indian summer eyes, heart of a dove 
Thrilling her voice I praised before my love, 
And many jealous fears I breathed aloud. 

But let the bare cold light of day unroll 
Love, for my heart sees all thy steadfast soul. 



22 



xm 



^ " I L ' -^ ^^'^ *^°^ forgot the ecstasies that seem 

W ^ To flow about us when our souls suspire 
J^ W In melting grief and delicate desire? — 

The sweet souls in us, born to the extreme 
Of pain and love ? when last ardors stream 
Pearly and gold, united wave and fire 
Forever mingle, as if child and sire, 
Maker and made, were blent in one blest dream ! 

Forgive me, Love, for thou art like an isle 
Perfect and adequate, embraced in foam 
Of an inconstant tide returning home 
Where thy dear subtle harbors yearn and smile. 

Those passive inlets shaped through moody years 
By an unresting sea, drink barren tears. 



23 



XIV 



^ ^ ^ HE moon hath made me cruel, dearest One ! 
^ ^^ Like a small earth it v/ere my sole delight 
^^i^ To follow thee whether my moon be bright 
Or dark, for thou art like a strange wise sun 

And I would drift where frozen orbits run 

Timed by tne morning thou dost make and night, 

Far, far, Alas ! and farther to the height. 

Or fall to tropic depths in unison. 

Is the rhythm lost? Ah, let the image perish! 
For in the dark of the moon I am grown blind, 
I am no more the sphere thy raptures cherish. 
Thou not the heat and cold that were unkind. 
Regret fears nothing for my passive part 
Save to forget the fire of thy great heart. 



24 



XV 



^ ^ "^ HOU who hast bought me dearer than all dues 
M ^^ I could exact, the slave hath thee besought, 
^^^ Placing' for thee the viand: "Sell me not! 

For thy sweet thirst my forethought shall infuse 

Crimson in a stone cup. I am thy muse, 

Thy servant. Thou shouldst value what thou hast bought 

At dear expense!" Thus have I thought and thought. 

0, what am I but for thy love to use ! 

Yet matters not my silence nor my sigh. 
The wide waste lies before thee who art bound 
Afar. 0, let me live, leave me to die, 
I am the one thine opulence hath found. 

Thou paidst, and what thou takest that was mine 
Is for thy service since the whole is thine, 



25 



XVI 



OLOVE, it seemed last night as if the rain 
Wept for us mourning, mingled with the surge 
In great grey harmonies, and grief did merge 
Into our joy and pleasure swooned in pain. 
The voice of our lost longing was a strain 
Whose utterances blended in a dirge 
Where the dumb heavens bade the thunders urge 
The sea and earth to wail our passion's wane. 

cold and tender eyes, cruel lips ! 
Thou givest to drink in kisses' mocking thirst, 
Whether it be a philter's maddening sips, 
Or sacrificial wine, or sweet or curst ! 

Once more thy bitter ardors seem to burn — 
Once more, once more, pour for me from thine urn! 



26 



xvn 



HINE ardor flows around me as a wood 
• ^^ Fills with the gentle wind at dusk, that growing, 
^^^ Throug-h each green crevice and interstice blowing, 

Allures and soothes a sweeter, wilder mood, 
d thy caresses lave, as a shore, wooed 
jmder the starlight with pale roses glowing 
')n creeping waters, tempting, reaching, flowing, 
5 wreathed over dark depths where night doth brood. 

I Tet every kiss hath fallen on my soul 

IlS the dear blossoms fall in ripening May. 

Jehold, I mourn them, though the leaves unroll, 
' tehold, love grows more pale, more pale than they. 



leloved, how sad the springtime seems ! 
inr souls have seen the passing of our dreams. 



27 



xvm 

OI WOULD sin^^ of love in every tcne ! 
The chant of trees, the iranmur of a ficwer, 
The si;^'h of winds in some deserted bower 
Where solitude replaces lapture Hown 
Prom summer midnights, the tempestuous gToan 
Of torrents, or the scn^; of the new hour, 
The monotone of a nocturnal i-how-er 
Tell me of love in laughter. :■■■ ' ■■ oan. 

Dearest, I heard strange muvjL: in the nigh' 

When the great stoiri:-v,inu • ■ " ', 

Sobbing to stupor at the i-i. 

then, to thee, my exiled lon^^ings prayed; 

"Where is that banished love, where the delight 

Thou knowest, where the joy thou hast betrayed?" 



28 



XIX 




"^]AY.r. me in pciiiiry a-vvhile to Ws^ep 
II 1 have overdrav;n from oiir sv^eet hoard. 
Let rA2 net squander trsasnros :Tathcrcd toward 
A vintiy lutirre's want, nor s:rasp too deep 

To reach tli!: wealth a wiser gov! would keep, 

'^"or, to my iavirh ecstar:;y afford 

Our consecrated opulaxCes stored 

Where (he locked, laden, silent shadows sleep, 

ghastly creditors arc in the c:locin 

lint dusk dolh Etrang'cly rob them from my si^ht 

And silence in the brooding^ heaven hears 

Within tlie voiceless r;paccs of the room 

Ail the dark day the drip of counted tears 

For every kiss thou gavest in the ni^^ht. 



?9 



XX 



I GAVE my hand to thee across the horde 
Of creatures clashing on the restless sand; 
To thcC, unknov/n, unsought, I gave my hand 
And ail the chanting ocean voiced one word 
Until my soul, dear Lover, yearning toward 
Thy rare soul, like a wraith above the strand 
Beheld thee fade along the stormy land, 
When the blast sundered us with its stern sword. 

Look! The frail shadows of our souls alone 
Wander through gloomy woods in chilly spring, 
Flit through the summer night when storms are done, 
Listen apart when the weak waters sing. 

And when some cloven cloud pours all its rain, 
Lost Love, those tears flow from our spirit's pain. 



30 



XXI 



OIOVE, I cannot touch thee with my yearning 
To lilt thy shadowy hair; my veiled sight 
As if at the last longing for the lig'ht 
Of fadin;^ arctic summer, faint discerning, 
Sees but a dim sad ghost; my mouth, unlearning 
The live deep fiower of thine in the thick ni^ht 
Seeks where is nothing that lost soft delight. 
That flame remembered yet, on mine yet burning. 

Wilt thou deny us memory? Wilt thou thrust 
Our souls that loved, mourning into the shade 
To wander unreclaimed? Wilt thou not trust 
Our tragic, powerless passion though it fade? 

Ah, though it fade into the midnight sky 
The soul we wrought. Beloved, shall not die! 



31 




xxn 



l\E niglit I wept as if a child were dead. 
The wliclo earth's frantic murmur reached mine ear 
in empty whispsis neither far nor near. 
But one dark onien throii;:h 3ny sorrow sped 

And all I heard of what the whispers said 

Was this: ''The one thoii loves-t is not here 

And thou shalt weep, shalt weep until no tear 

Is left thee where thou liest on thy bed." 

Such tears are little seeds and souls of things 
That in tJie darkness fall into the ground. 
Ah, if I cherish them, life shall abound 
In tentant buds and glorious flowerings. 

Would some wise gardener catch my tears and tend, 
The tree of love should blossom without end. 



32 



xxm 

"^" jf W^ "^-^ ^^^^^ alone in the lost world of night, 

^>iaJ| Sweet youth whose breast my head hath lain upon 

J^^JRi^ ill some primeval V;Ood of aeons lone 

Eef ore the years withdrew thee from my sight? 

ifow the dim zt:m^ seem leaning for thy light, 

And ail the land confased and heaven wan — 

Art thoTi alone, cv/eet one, ait thou alone, 

Whose life was oiice my bloom v^hose loss my blight? 

I call thee with the voice of many woods. 
The waters thou dost love are my deep tears 
Sprung from the old farewell of unknown years. 
And winds of all the seasons are my moods. 

-woe, the throbbing" earth where thou shalt sleep 
Is the same bed where thy lost bride doth weep! 



33 



XXIV 

ONCE thou and I, Love, found a secret sea 
Spreading upon the surface of the star 
Whereto we Hed together, white and far, 
Cur souls embracing, dreaming we were free 
From this coarse earth. Love, mjrsteriously 
Those wise lone watsrs held by hill and scar 
Slept in an ancient peace that no men mar, 
Unsolved, unsounded even by thee and me. 

Love, I dream of wonders no man knoweth 
In that lost sphere of love where sleepeth shaded, 
The stern indifferent sea; where no tide showeth 
In fluctuant shape our love that flooded, faded. 

p- 

Hast thou the dream, the same ? And dost thou know 
Where our lost star through silver space doth go ? 



34 



XXV 



^ Wr "^ ^^^' ^° ^^* blame me if I took away 
H f From thine abundance more than I bestowed, 
Jl dl My love was like a river and it flowed 

Through thy rich country gathering day by day 
From thy far hillside, from the mountain way 
Sweet waters where thine image once abode 
Changeful, and Love, I triumph, having owed 
The joy of my fair current to thy sway. 

all the joy of leaning bush and bough 
Reflected once, — the violet sky, the tree 
Mirrored in double calm — are scattered now 
In glints of beauty through the eternal sea 
Billowing beyond the ages hint and hush, 
Where my flood hastes to meet the tidal flush. 



35 



XXVI 

IF tlicu cli:)iilcl^t kibs ]^? hotj iny heart wcnld flame 
Into a Rcarl^jt fc-7:or thst dTv.?r*^.s ci Ih^^e 
Un"blo£iiC2iicd; or if my cla:cd c^ cs should see 
A vvondrciis face in \isioii. I v; c ild name 
That beauty with Ih-/- n^nie, love, ^'ho tli-^ '"''^ ? 
With all wild spirits ait, no far Bzi fr: :. 
Thou ethereal one, aloof from me, 
Clear of earth's ^:i'.-j ■w^^'^-^^^ ^^^-^ ">■ ^-■•^ o^.7.-,.ot 

For I have nothinr-r of thse. Taj ^an iire 
Treriibles elusive an 'twere in a cloud 
On a horizon vanishing' in gloom.. 
In our bereft abode the raviihcd shroud 
Lies vacant in the diis;?.; the empt'-' room 
Chills in the silence of a dead desire. 



36 



XXVII 

i^^l'^^K" - ' - "d ihe heart 



^'liat ccnld I eij. tij fi.^li? 'Iwtie cold as stone. 

Ill, tlie v.orId niccks thae? It is net too late 
i'or thee to join it. Hush ! I stare alone-— 
.. Of C. 



37 




xxvm 

STRANGfER, from the cup my spirit brewed 
I gave tiiee drink; and tlie blue joyous fume 
From my red fire I let thy sense consume; 
Throu2"h my soul's living ether thou hast viewed 

Across the vital earth, the real, the crude 

Drifting" to images; thou didst assume 

Royal delight of color and perfume 

And hold as thine the beauty thus renewed. . . 

Stranger, by thy hands, thine ears, thine eyes 

1 was thy love ; I, whom thou dreamed and felt 
In sovereignty beneath thy vision melt, 
One with the tangible in fervid guise. 

Behold, m-y soul, unbounden from thy thrall 
Hears now the world's farewell, the heaven's call. 



38 



XXIX 

OTHOU wert once my Answerer, thou wise, 
Thou wondrous prophet of my soul's estate, 
Fusing the elements of love and hate, 
Of life, of wisdom. Thine is the demise 
Of weak sad saints ; thy pang the death man dies ; 
Thine, itill born monsters, sweet-bitter mate 
To poets! Man and woman, narrow, great 
In thy chaotic songs, thy perfect sighs! 

Now thy voice vanishes caught in the gloom 
Of vacancy; no echo rises; God! 
Doth a strange shadow lead me to a tomb? 
Doth thy soul wander where no soul hath trod? 

No ansv/er issues from thy empty bed. 

The question wails among the shrouded dead. 



39 



n 



XXX 

OVv" in the silence is thy spirit lost 
thou v/ho liest cold and stian^^e and pale, 



On that dim day our wavering spirits crossed, 
Thine cold and questioning, and mine storm-tossed, 
Among" old willows bent to the western gale 
On the vague shore of thine own sea-washed vale, 
When what thou least had known thou knev/est most. 

xTow by that <:^rey and solitary shore 
The rising storm-winds chant thine aftermath 
On billowin?; sands amon^ the pale sea-grass, 
Sobbin.^' that here thy step shall turn no more, 
Mourning that never here thy foot shall pass 
Where dark-spired cedars hide the narrow path. 



40 




XXXI 

NCE out aboYe the swin^'ing inert sea, 
Tliy soul adrift upon t'.h.e surg'c of air, 
Alone tlioii dreaiacd a drc-2i;i so fierce and rare 
Tl'iOd must li/ive kr_cv7ii a giiint's fo/ce to be 

Enibodi'^d tlius in heroes ^vezd and free; 

But thv pr/Ic cheek, thy hero-seeing* stare 

Tuniod back irom vacancy at last aware 

Of solitude and helplessness, to me. 

Thou who hast oft sat hj rou^^h boards in talk 
V/ith common men, thou whose feverish feet 
Brsiwn outward, made the j:.GL:;nin shore thy walk, 
Or hirrd by wantons, recjdess smote the street, 
Bid-t ?tore those inner ^.'isions mood by mood, 
Bidst v/aken pale at chilly dawn to brood. 



41 



XXXII 

^-^^^ IIY soul shall be lamented though thy flesh 
d ^^ Were all too youngs to perish, all too fair 
^^*^ Thy frame, too wild thine eyes, too soft thine hair, 
So soon to le thus caught within the mesh 

Of earthy filaments ; thy rapt song too fresh 

To be imprisoned in the speechless snare 

Set by a sharp death for the unaware, 

Unfulfilled soul too soon loosed from the flesh. 

How thou once sailed the seas for dear life's sake, 
How strange and mad and riotous thou wert grown, 
How thou hast drunken in deep cups to slake 
Thy longing", were this writ on thy cold stone 

An epic wild thy wandering would tell 
To the sad music of a burial knell. 



42 



xxxin 

" '(^%.1J ^ ^^"^ ^^'® *^s living now that thou art dsad 

I Im ^f f Though every sun make warm the chilly earth, 

^^^^ Thoug-h seasons perish having given thee birth, 
Now that thou liest in thy new dark bed? 

Ah, over slopes that once knev/ thy young" head 
I In other spring-times, mocks the strong wind's mirth 

Playing across the paths that know thy dearth, 

And by full tides thy shores are comforted. 

What though the crimson cups allured thy mouth 

Ever too wan? What though thine eyes grew dark 

That mirrored once the blur of pallid wave ? 

What though thy slim feet ran toward north, toward south 

Burning in thy young haste to make thy mark. 

What matter these things, now thou art in thy grave ? 



43 



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